Howies : who in their right mind pays...

£160 for a pair of jeans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and they are made in China FFS!Quite a good profit being made methinks.I know if you don't want them don't buy them but am intrigued as to who pays that sort of money.(and the air miles kind of shoots their green credentials down in flames as well)

oldfart - Stop being so negative. You people make me sick, always running down British companies.

Yes they are made in China but they are made in a very nice factory. Of course its in a totalitarian country that has recently change the manner in which it carries out executions to one arguably more painful for the victim so that their organs can be harvested and sold to 'developed' countries, but that wouldn't look good written next to a picture of a Welsh beach so is strangely absent from the site.

Still, kudos to them. They seem to have found their niche and they aren't short of an 'ethical' customer or two.

I always buy Evisu/Diesel and Replay jeans in the sales. I never pay more than £60 for any of them and as long as they get me laid I dont care. However if I wore Howies I'd look like a middeling-anglo saxon with frustrated aspirations of wanting to live in New Zealand and drive round in a VW T4. Then I will only pull girls who have slightly manly ankles and think wearing body warmers is 'cool'.

I recently got a Howies catalogue through the door (sent to a former tenant). Having read the utter bullshit marketing blurb, I will now make a conscious effort not to buy Howies stuff. I know most other stuff is probbly made in sweatshops etc, but it's the 'we're so great, aren't we?' guff that really puts me off.

I would much rather have 'look, we won't lie that our stuff isn't made using cheap labour in a country with a dubious Human Rights record, but we will at least won't bullshit you too much, or rip you off too badly'.

It's ridiculous price but you could be paying £400 for a horribly boring "hand-me-down" Howies coat .... mmm now who would!!???

There's no such thing as a "ridiculous price" unless the market won't sustain it. There's evidently a market for these items, just you're not in it. You can't apply a subjective value to something you claim to have an objective value. Doesn't work.

Same argument can be used for bicycles.... and we know how precious the STW crew get about being told by someone that "you could get a car for that".

This morning good enough? She had to tear off my Aussiebum undies mind..i'm a scruffy weirdo though hora...

Thats funny. I can wear an Armani suit and still look like a tramp. Whereas a good looking model can wear an asda suit and most girls wouldnt notice the cut of the fabric or the fit...
Me? Contradiction? Life is full of them darling

I work in the jeans industry. If value is built in a brand (like Evisu using Japanese denim) then the price is justified. However using Japanese denim and producing them in China is bullshit - all the end product produced there is either for the mass market i.e. Tesco or Asda own product or for brands who are stretching their offer and want to introduce a cheaper price point.
However with first hand experience the jeans are normally of inferior quality and want last as long as North African / Italian / Turkish denim mills production
Using the best denim in the world (Japanese) and producing them in China is like putting Caviar on your chips

I really, really don't care, other people's spending habits are always something of a mystery. My only pair of jeans are Howies. Can't recall how much they were. Bought them 5 years ago, I've had the pockets replaced and patched the knees. They're going pretty well.

For what it's worth, the assumption that everyone is a hypocrite is a terribly corrosive thing.

I can't understand why some people on here like to have a dig at Howies? I buy some of their gear because i like it and the orice ain't too[i] bad.
I couldn't give a flying for what moral high ground they take.

Got the new catalogue this morning (well actually three of them 'cos they can't clean their db) and I have to say that regardless of what you think of their ethics, you have to admire their balls; the country is sliding into recession, people are loosing their jobs and their houses, credit has evaporated and how do Howies respond? they start selling £75 polo shirts, £400 jackets and £160 jeans... what really amazes me is the kids clothes, £15 for a t-shirt and £45 for a pair of jeans, at the rate kids grow those will only last 6 months tops and I can't remember the last time my son actually managed to wear out an item of clothing before he grew out of it.

Didn't Howies used to be a kind of scruffy, skate/surf brand? Who is their target demographic these days?